[Markell]

OK, My bucktail tying adventure is off to a rough start. How do you elliminate the little extra hair sticking out toward the head? I want to elliminate every bit of it. I thought about a razor blade but do not want to mess up the paint. I thought about putting the end of the hair further back but all of the tutorials I have seen say to cut off the excess. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tm Customs]

Hey Mark,
I tie bucktails every once in a while they look good too. What I do is start off by tieing it very soft then pulling the hair back so there is no excess Or you can tie w/ the excess and the put the razor right next to the thread and roll in back and forth applying little pressure so you don't mess up you paint. Hope this helps.
Taylor

[deadlystreamer]

HeyMarkell, This post will be moved to the Fly tying thread I would move it but the control button is missing, Move us Jerry, thanks.

The trouble you are having with the buck tail is normal. Not sure exactly where your problem is, so let me do it this way.
When you snip the bunch of hair off the buck tail, hold the good hair by the tip and use your finger or scissors to flip the loose hair out of the butt end of the hair. Then using your finger gently pull the hair out and you will have what you need to tie on.

If you are right handed get the length of the hair you need with your left hand and the jig or hook, and snip the end off straight, dab a drop of lacquer into the hair. Lay it on the hook and take two or three very tight turns around the hook pulling the hair in tight making the end of the hair stick up or out. Use your scissors to snip off the excess hair and continue to wrap it down.
Make sure you have the thread tight from the first wrap to the last wrap.
When it's finished use a good amount of clear lacquer to finish it off. If there is something else you need, please give me a shout. Hope this helps you out some.

[Celticav]

I use a hair stacker to even out a small clump of hair, then hold the clump in the middle and "flick" it with my finger to knock off the short hairs. You wanna watch your tension on the first wrap, little tighter on the second, then tighter on the third and so on. Hope it helps, JIM
Oh, and I got ya covered DS

[Big Splash]

I use a method somewhat like DS and Celticav. Trim the hair to the exact length you need after cutting it from the tail. I never try to cut out ends after wraping in the hair. Tie it close, and wrap em in.
You can see some of my Bucktails in the gallery. I used them to catch some very exciting Coho (silver) salmon on the surface in the salt chuck this month.

[deadlystreamer]

I think I should clarify what I mean about cutting the ends off after the first 3 or so wraps of the thread.
Do that if you are rounding the head off to look like a nice neat head by the eye of the hook. The most important thing about working with buck tail, and squirrel tail, is to make sure all the loose butt end hair is out before tying it in place.
Like anything else, It depends on what you are tying.

[Markell]

Thanks for the tips. I am getting better and with a lot more practice I might just figure this out. Sorry about posting this in the wrong forum, I couldn't decide where it belonged. One more question: why is it that with some bucktals you buy there is part of the tail that is not dyed? And others the entire tail is dyed? Did that even make sense?

[cavu]

Markell

Are you talking about the dark part versus the light part? The dark part of a deer tail doesn't show the dye very much. Mostly what you are using for the color is the white part that is dyed the color you need.

[Markell]

That makes sense. Thanks. My wife is out of town and that is a good thing because I have made an absolute mess in our living room doing this. I have hair all over the floor, coffee table and me! Not to mention our cat is trying to eat it.

[deadlystreamer]

Living room!! Ohhhh my wife would kill me.. If you were to get into using feathers, you and that cat will have to come to some kind of agreement, they love those things. That's where murder is acceptable.
That dark hair on the under or actually the top of the buck tail is nice hollow hair. It's good to use it if you want to tie a couple bunches on a hook and trim it to a shape if some kind. You could make a nice small mouse with it because it'll float. You can trim that stuff to look like almost anything if you have the patients.
If we can go back in time for a minute, My Dad set up a display in the auto show in Chicago in the early 60's and tied Chevy Vans, and all the cars GM made out of buck tail. I wish I had some of them today. I also wish he had given the talent to me.
That hair on those tails can be used if you have the time to play with it. Good luck and have fun